Though they faced some resistance from the Hot Springs visitors, the Dell Rapids Quarrier football team came out victorious, earning a spot in the state championship, at the semifinal Class 11A match Saturday.

Kicking things off in a now-traditional fashion, the host team posted a touchdown within the first minute of play, with Matt Kolbeck passing a 96-yard advantage to Bryce Koch to score. Zach White scored the team its first field goal.

To close out the first quarter, Riley Schmidt carried in an additional touchdown.

The second quarter proved lucrative for the Quarriers, nearly holding off Hot Springs offensive plays through to the half. Kolbeck kicked things off with a 12-yard pass to Lane LeBrun to add to the Dell Rapids coffer. But the Bison answered back with a massive 100-yard return on a Quarrier fumble.

The remainder of the half belonged to the home team, though, as Michael McGee ran in a 58-yard touchdown, followed by an 11-yard running score from Schmidt. And Schmidt kept up the scoring efforts, bringing in one more trip to the endzone off of a 64-yard kick return to close out the half.

And including a Dell Rapids two-point conversion, the halftime score rested at 42-7.

The second half mostly belonged to the Bison, as the visiting boys brought in the sole touchdown of the third quarter, as well as two more in the fourth. But a final 57-yard run touchdown from Schmidt cemented the deal for Dells, who won the state slot in a 49-25 decision.

On the defensive line, Tyler Gee led the boys, putting down eight tackles by game’s end. Cole Langer supported with a 4.5 total, while Phillip Schwebach took 3.5 tackles for the night. Rounding out tackling efforts were Dylan Lautt, Schmidt and Cody Nielsen, with 2.5 tackles apiece.

Zach White put up three points from his kicking game, as well as totaling 323 yards in kickoffs versus the Hot Springs players.

Koch led the Dell Rapids team in receiving yardage, bringing in 168 yards for the night, while Kolbeck passed for 156 yards.